Mars Carousel spins up more docks
Orbital holds the key to growth for Mars and beyond
MARS CAROUSEL, June 29 - Four more docking ports will be added to the Pontus Caelestis orbital that floats above the Valles Marineris, raising capacity by a third for the station, more commonly called the Carousel,that serves as the gateway to the Valley.
The additions to the Mars Carousel will increase the number of docking ports to 16 on the exterior of the wheel-shaped habitation, research and docking station in areosynchronous orbit above the western Valles Marineris, Pontus Caelestis Manager Johannes Tycho told the Chaos Courier on Friday.
"With faster rockets, we're expecting more frequent port calls, for immigration and research as travel time is significantly cut between Terra, Luna, Earth orbital factories and the rapidly growing L5 habitats," Pontus Caelestis Manager Johannes Tycho told the Chaos Courier. "We need to prepare for more traffic beyond the space trains on transfer routes."
In addition, the expansion of the orbital cargo yards remains on track to be completed at least 60 sols ahead of the scheduled Nov. 30 arrival of the cargo and supply train that left Earth orbit just 8 sols ago, Tycho said.
“Our in-bound trade has grown substantially, and we need to improve our cargo storage and handling capacity to reduce the kinds of delays we experienced at the last supply train arrival in September, about 550 sols back,” Tycho said. “We’re also shipping a lot more back to Earth, and that requires the ability to assemble larger cargo trains here.”
The latest cargo train for Earth departed on a Hohmann transfer route 72 sols ago on May 17.
"But traffic is no longer limited to the supply trains," Tycho said. "Faster rockets mean we can expect arrivals and departures at various times, though that's for passengers and higher value goods so far. Everything else still comes with the supply trains, as do the larger immigrant liners.”
The Carousel is the penultimate stop for immigrants and temporary visitors to the Valley, who have to pass quarantine before shuttling down to Ares Port - outside Urbs Vallis (the City) in Tithonium Chasma toward the western end of the Valles Marineris - or for the other settlements outside the valley.
"It's not just Earth and Luna," Tycho said. "We are seeing more traffic to the Belt for scouting, and increasingly prospecting for water and metals. We need a way to accomodate the explorers as well as their cargo for transit to the surface."
Nearly 200 permanent residents live on the wheel-shaped carousel, and roughly a tenth of the 25km circumference station is currently devoted to temporary and permanent living space, Tycho said.
That leaves a lot of empty space, though most of it is not ready for habitation.
MarsDevco plans to fully develop the entire carousel, and intends to add new wheels both above and below the existing structure as needed.
Refining and smelting stations would be built in a similar orbit, but well spaced from the Pontus.
"Most of the completed Pontus sections were built out of the half-kilometer space liner sections that came from Luna. It's a bit romantic to say they're printed out of moon dust, but it's not too far off the mark," Tycho said. "We look to source more of that material either from Mars or from the Belt, when we build out our projected ore refining and smelting operation."
The new docking ports are large enough to accommodate standard surface shuttles as well as the larger shuttles that carry passengers to and from interplanetary ships that park in orbit, Tycho said.
"When we add the second wheel, we intend to develop ports that will enable interplanetary ships to dock directly with the Pontus, rather than having to ferry people and goods by shuttle from ships to the carousel and then to the surface," Tycho said.
More Martians than Earthlings
URBS VALLIS, June 29 - Valles Marineris now hosts more native Martians than newcomers from Earth, Census Mars estimates.
That's mostly due to growth in newer settlements from Noctus Labyrinthia to the west of the Valley and those well east of the City in in Ius, Corprates and Candor Chasmata, and lately, Orson Welles Crater outside the valley, Census Mars Chief Willow Demeter told the Chaos Courier on Friday.
“The City (Urbs Vallis) remains the first and often permanent stop for most Terra and Luna arrivals. The three-annos (5-1/2 year) contracts to pay for passage generally keep people in the City for longer. They meet friends and life partners here and tend to stay, particularly in the habtube, which offers more living space and the ability to move around in more spacious interior areas. It's more Earth-like with farms, gardens, trees and ponds,” Demeter said.
Still, the City is growing at a slower pace than the newer settlements, with the fastest growth further out, even if those habitations are generally in lava tubes or new tunnels deep underground, Demeter said.
Of the estimated 122,100 people living in the Valley area, 62,100 are Mars-born, with more than half of those younger than 30 terranyears (about 16 annos), including several thousand second-generation Martians, Demeter said. The Census declined to provide exact figures.
"Outside of the City, residents tend to, well, get busier, quite a bit faster," Demeter said. "They're looking to grow their families and their communities, and the extra hands help once they're old enough to work. And everyone works as soon as they can out there."
The City is home to about 43,000 people in the 4.8 km habtube in Tithonium Chasma and 15,000 in the terraced settlements on the adjacent slope, known as WestHill. Ius Chasma comes in second at 23,000, with about 11,000 of those in Geryon Montes.
Coprates Chasma is third with 14,000 in the main settlement, which lines the inside the rim of a 24-km diameter chasma-floor crater; Melas Chasma follows with 12,000 and Candor Chasma with 8,000. About 6,000 live in Noctis Labyrinthus in more scattered settlements.
"With Orson Welles, we're just guessing, but we think about 3,500, and there are more independent settlements out there," Demeter said. "But we're not counting Welles in the Valley total."
The development of the BarVoom compact fusion power units in Candor Chasma has proved game-changing in that they provide a relatively small and reliable source of energy for boring out living spaces and powering environmental and agricultural facilities, said Ius Chasma Councillor Brynn Gibby.
"That's what really changed the equation. You don't have to be in the City any more. You don't have to rely on their two fusion stations, their water and their resources," Gibby said. “That's why we're seeing such fast growth."
City restaurant proposal cooked
Planning Commission sticks a fork in it
URBS VALLIS, June 27 -A proposal to turn an under-used Council-run canteen in the second and center section of the Tithonium Chasma habtube into a restaurant serving all comers was rejected by the Tithonia Planning Commission as inconsistent with overall development goals.
"All Valley residents are, and have been, entitled to sufficient food as an intergral part of their work and immigration contracts under the overall development scheme for the Valley," Planning Commission President and City Councilor Marcus Wu said at Wednesday's meeting. "There are sufficient canteens for every resident. We see no need to turn nutrition into a business."
Valley resident and agriculturist Janine Depaysage had proposed creating what she called a café (ka-fay) on the fourth-level terrace overlooking parks and farming plots on the terraces below. The restaurant would serve light meals and beverages for workers at lunch and dinner.
"I got the idea from old Earth books about cafés in France, and I thought it would be nice for workers to have a place to sit and meet and have a light meal," Depaysage said. "And it would give families a place to celebrate special occasions."
Facilities and supplies are carefully managed for all City residents to avoid waste and misuse, Wu said, adding it was not clear how the business would expect to obtain sufficient food supplies on a regular basis.
Depaysage said she did not anticipate any problems in securing ingredients, as she had spoken to many residents whose family plots and wall gardens provide more fresh, homegrown foodstuffs than they can use and would be willing to supply the café under a cooperative arrangement.
Second-section resident Jaspar Jackson said the café would be a welcome change from his assigned canteen. "It would allow ordinary valley residents on special occasions to eat in the same style that the council staff does every day in their exclusive canteens," Jackson said. "I'd love a nice goat cheese salad with crisp greens and homegrown Barsoom tomatoes."
Xanthe Terra survey crew fail to report
ORSON WELLES, June 29 - A survey crew exploring deep caverns near Orson Welles crater in Xanthe Terra failed to report back on time, a Survey Mars spokeswoman said on Friday.
The crew of six entered the cavern in Shalbatana Vallis, about 2,800 km east and north of Urbs Vallis, nine sols ago and had been expected to report back three sols ago, Survey Mars spokeswoman Stella Regina said.
“We’ll wait a while before sending a back-up squad to check up on them, but it’s not unusual for an exploration crew to report late," Regina said. "A lot of times, they just want to keep looking once they’ve found something interesting, and communications aren’t reliable underground.”
The crew was about 300m below the surface and about 2km from the entrance when they last reported back through a relay hub, Regina said.
The deep caverns are being assessed for future homesteads as the Mars population grows.
Contract Chaos - Overtime
URBS VALLIS, June 29 - The City Labor Council mandated a half-annos extension (334 sol) for a contract worker who was found in the City after disappearing from his job in January, roughly halfway through his contract.
Agriculture specialist Dover Taylie was stopped by officials as he entered the third section of the habtube, which is currently being finished. Taylie had signed the standard 3-annos (5-1/2 year) contact to pay for his transportation to Mars from Earth.
Taylie argued that his contract was voided by the fact that his required duties did not match his expertise as a plant nutrition specialist, and that he had found better opportunities outside the city. He declined to answer repeated queries as to where he had been living.
Citing his refusal to cooperate, the council added the 334-sol extension to his contract, meaning he will have to serve nearly two full annos (3-3/4 years) to fulfill the contract terms.
The council found that Taylie had been adequately advised of his expected duties and had attested on the contract that he had signed "of his own free will and under no duress."
- Mirihi Merced
Arrivals
BOUDICCA IN BOUND - Private scout-class ship Boudicca, captained by flame-haired Mars-born explorer Attracta O'Ceileachair, radios that her ship is expected to return in early July from a 2-annos voyage through the asteroid belt, including Vesta, the second largest rock in the belt after Ceres.
To head off letters on the adjective, the editors gently refer readers to her prior response (17 May 100 Chaos Courier) on the topic, "Ya gotta problem with my hair?"
Run Kitty Run
Mars cats are the cutest, but Corprates Chasma officials say there’s a limit.
They warn all un-permitted cats found wandering will be put outside—no matter how cute.
- Sorcha Kaisei
Calendar
City garden Tulip Fest blooms
The Tithonia Gardens are in spectacular bloom for the next few weeks with a stunning display of tulips of all colors, as well as irises and daffodils.
Besides gawking at the tulips, visitors can spend some time meditating by the purple and blue irises surrounding the koi pond, and wander among the bluebells amid the cherry and apple trees.
If yellow and orange are more your style, there’s still time to catch the drifts of daffodils and jonquils. Habtube 2, Terrace 4
Books our parents brought from home
The Tithonia Museum is hosting an exhibition of some of the many hundreds of paper books that immigrants to Mars brought on their 500 million km journey to their new home.
While you can't borrow them, the museum will let you spend a few minutes reading some of the sturdier volumes as you gaze across the valley. From June 38 through end-July. WestHill Terrace 12
Geryon Pub Crawl. Real Home brews. Everyone starts at Rick’s in the Geryon Agora. Saturday 17:00,
City Strings. Classical quartet. Marineris Hall. WestHill Terrace 4. Friday-Sunday 20:00
“Dust Devils,” The ultimate Mars fright threedee. Stage 3. Hab 1. Terrace 8 June 34-40, 18:00, 20:00, 22:00
City Social. Mix and mingle with new arrivals and old hands. Hab 2. Terrace 4, by Tithonia Gardens. Acoustic duo Harris & Fitz will put an arrow through your heart. Friday 17:00
- Merry Grace, lifestyle correspondent
The Chaos Courier helps you over the rough spots.
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AG ENGINEERS Hyrdoponics, aeroponics. Ex-contract only. IUS 278-71892
HYDRO ENGINEER. Water systems, recovery, purification. Ex-contract only MELAS 285-21095
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BALLROOM DANCING Let's Rumba! URBS 269 49144
MARTIAL ARTS. Conditioning and confidence. Weighted and natural. GERYON 278 71435
YOGA. Get the kinks out. IUS 278-43256
Next - Sunday 38 June 101 (Issue 02)
The header and footer photo is the iconic mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars from 2,500 km above the surface taken by the Viking Orbiter. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
The Candor Chaos Courier, Candor Chaos, Valles Marineris, Mars
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Photomosaic: Viking Orbiter: NASA/JPL-Caltech